Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. cultivar Festival White.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Festival Whitexe2x80x99.
The new Poinsettia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lompoc, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Poinsettia cultivars with uniform plant habit and attractive flower bract coloration.
The new Poinsettia is a induced mutation of the Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. cultivar Festival Pink, not patented. The new Poinsettia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within a population of irradiated plants of the cultivar Festival Pink in a controlled environment in Lompoc, Calif. The selection of this plant was based on its attractive flower bract coloration and uniform plant habit.
Asexual reproduction of the new Poinsettia by vegetative terminal cuttings taken at Lompoc, Calif., has shown that the unique features of this new Poinsettia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Festival Whitexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Festival Whitexe2x80x99as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Uniform plant growth habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves with green-colored petioles.
3. Early flowering habit.
4. Inflorescences with white-colored flower bracts.
5. Excellent post-production longevity.
Plants of the new Poinsettia differ primarily from plants of the parent cultivar in flower bract coloration as plants of the cultivar Festival Pink have pink-colored flower bracts.
Plants of the new Poinsettia can be compared to plants of the cultivar 490 White, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,772. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Lompoc, Calif., plants of the new Poinsettia differed from plants of the cultivar 490 White in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Poinsettia were more upright and not as outwardly spreading as plants of the cultivar 490 White.
2. Plants of the new Poinsettia had reddish-colored stems whereas plants of the cultivar 490 White had green-colored stems.
3. Plants of the new Poinsettia had smaller leaves and shorter petioles than plants of the cultivar 490 White.
4. Plants of the new Poinsettia had tighter cyathia clusters than plants of the cultivar 490 White.